


milk tea

by yongyuan



Series: never met someone like you [chansoo college au] [5]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - College/University, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, Studying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 21:32:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14578101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yongyuan/pseuds/yongyuan
Summary: [five times park chanyeol fell in love with do kyungsoo and one time he ... ]five: 1212, 18:43





	milk tea

**Author's Note:**

> sup im back  
> readable as standalone but i suggest reading parts 1-4!

_ five: 1212, 18:43 _

 

ksoo o♥o [today, 18:43]: Chanyeol

ksoo o♥o: Are u busy

 

(chanyeol spends 5 minutes typing and deleting responses, unaware that kyungsoo spends 3 minutes watching the typing bubble appear and disappear on screen)

 

pcy [today, 18:48]: no why

 

ksoo o♥o: I think I’ve completely filled the part of my brain reserved for information about standard deviation

ksoo o♥o: Which is 0% of my brain

ksoo o♥o: Please help me study I will pay you

ksoo o♥o: Math genius

pcy: ok but i charge by the hour

ksoo o♥o: Bring snacks

 

ksoo o♥o [18:51]: *Please

 

_ 19:14 _

 

chanyeol’s got that doofy wide grin of his plastered on his face when kyungsoo cracks open the door. he’s armed with notebooks and pens and highlighters in about 8 colors, all tucked into neat little pouches in his backpack. [the first time they studied together, kyungsoo teased him for being a nerd with color-coded notes. the first time they got their tests back, kyungsoo shut up.] 

 

“i come bearing gifts,” he announces, shoving a wimpy plastic grocery bag into kyungsoo’s chest and falling onto his bed. “my rate is twelve dollars an hour, your time starts now.” kyungsoo makes a noise between a laugh and an incredulous huff, tired and buzzing from staring at numbers mindlessly for hours, and he peeks into the bag. 

 

“they were out of custard buns, but i got some of that pineapple cake you like, uhh, a thing of wafers, and two bowls of ramen.”  

 

“is it --”

 

“one is spicy. but no snacks until we study.” 

 

“i love you, and you’re the worst.” 

 

“you know, twelve dollars was the friends-and-family discount, so if you insist, i can hike it back up to --”

 

“i take it back. i don’t love you.” chanyeol is affronted. kyungsoo smiles. 

 

//

 

“if you say ‘divided by n’ one more time, i think i might die.” papers and pens lay across the bed (and the floor (and the desk)), and kyungsoo, also lying motionless on the bed, looks decidedly defeated. 

 

“look, the test is next thursday, there isn’t a lot of time left for you to prep.” chanyeol nudges kyungsoo’s shoulder, prompting him not to get up and “hit the books!” once more but instead to gather the blankets together and faceplant into them. 

 

“that’s like nine whole days for me to sleep and get ready.” blankets shuffle a bit.” in that order.” 

 

“if you can’t count the days between now and thursday, i think there might be a problem for this test, soo.” regardless, he starts to clean up the mess [academic pick up sticks] - and starts to gather his thoughts for the first time in a couple hours, too. he yawns. his thoughts say he’s tired. “maybe you’ve got the right idea, though.” 

 

“i’m always right,” kyungsoo says, sitting up now that the studying part of this 'study session' is coming to a close. he picks up a couple papers and stares at them for a few seconds with all the determination of a dead rat before letting them fall to the bed. “which i hope applies to this test.” 

 

when every trace of productivity is safely sealed away, kyungsoo sits cross-legged on the bed and chanyeol sits backwards in the room’s one singular chair. the sun has long since set and the yellow light’s been replaced by bright LEDs and mellow silence. [a familiar silence that’s becoming more comfortable, making itself at home between the two of them - but still waiting to be broken.] they’re on their phones, probably looking at the same posts on two screens. they have a dozen unread messages each, mostly missed conversations from the past couple hours. neither of them really mind, though. 

 

chanyeol looks up first: “do you think you’re gonna be ready by thursday?” 

 

sighing, kyungsoo puts his phone on his nightstand (carefully, face up to avoid scratches; always gentle with everything he does) and scoots forward toward chanyeol. it’s hard to tell if his face means he’s thinking about the question or falling asleep.

 

“hope so.” he glances up at chanyeol with sleepy eyes and mussed up hair and an always unreadable look. chanyeol looks back at him almost too fondly, always too close to betraying himself the second he makes eye contact. 

 

“that means you’ve gotta come over again soon, then, right?” kyungsoo smiles, easy to read [easy to love]. 

 

[and chanyeol beams and feels his heart swell up a little bit at that, overeager and overexcited about spending time with kyungsoo even when he’s already there with him. he’s not sure if he’s smiling at what kyungsoo said or if he’s smiling at kyungsoo’s own smile or his sleepy eyes or mussed up hair or his warm look that feels a little bit like chanyeol’s past present future wrapped up with a bow and packaged into one person. and he could say a lot of things right now but all he musters is --]

 

“only if you pay for snacks next time.” there’s some vigor coming back to them now that the prospect of food is before them.

 

“actually,” kyungsoo says.” there’s a convenience store down the street and i’m hungry as hell. let’s just go get snacks now?” 

 

“don’t need to tell me twice.” 

 

//

 

outside, they feel a little lighter, a little freer, a little more ready to take on the world (or at least the closest 24-hour store, which, for all intents and purposes, is the same thing). small college towns have no late night bustle; there’s no karaoke bars opening up for the pm crowd, no lantern-lit markets with aunties bargaining for lower prices, and the neon signs hung in grimy storefronts are already off. streetlights look like fireflies in the distance and create an artificial summer for the two of them despite the air turning to mist when they talk. walking at night, no matter how many times they’ve trekked back from the library at unholy hours, wakes some dormant mix of childhood wonder and teenage rebellion. whatever it is, it feels good and new, and it culminates in chanyeol tripping while tightrope-walking the curb and kyungsoo finally laughing that night. 

 

// 

 

“it’s the principle of the matter! you don’t just stop taking care of a tamagotchi because its ‘not real!’” chanyeol is liberal with the finger quotes, throwing his hands up in the air in a wild show of nostalgic incredulity. “who’s to even - who’s to say  _ you’re _ real, huh?” 

 

“what? yeol, i, what does that even mean? look, i’m not going to buy one of those fifteen-kajillion packs of triple-A batteries to waste time on-” 

 

“ _ waste time _ ? kyungsoo.” words are flying. heads will roll. at this rate, kyungsoo might be left without a statistics tutor. chanyeol, in all his petulant glory, turns his back to the offender and takes a second to clear his throat and not laugh. “to think i spent my hard-earned money to buy you snacks.”

 

“hey, hey, i literally  _ just  _ bought this round! we’re even, yeol, come on.” kyungsoo shakes chanyeol’s shoulder and whines. “look at me!” chanyeol turns. [mistake! minus ten from chanyeol’s  _ tough demeanor _ stats]. 

 

“i’ll be nicer to my keychain pets. accept this milk tea as an apology.” kyungsoo kneels and, in an uncharacteristically grandiose manner, bows his head, presenting the bottle to chanyeol like a sword to a knight. 

 

“ah, the highest quality tea from quik-buy convenience store and gas station. i accept your apology - for now - but you better make good on your word.” chanyeol sits on the curb and pulls kyungsoo with him. they quiet down.

 

[it’s something like 1 am; they aren’t the only people outside, but the moon’s bright in the sky and the air’s just on this side of chilly and you can see a few more stars than you usually care to look for. chanyeol looks at kyungsoo for a second, illuminated by watery white moonlight and aging neon signs. a little underexposed, a little desaturated, but still bright and colorful and full of life in his own right. chanyeol wonders if he looks any different in this light. he wonders if kyungsoo can see his heart pinned to his sleeve.]

 

they twist off the bottle caps. chanyeol raises his drink in the air with conviction and a grin. stealing a look [that chanyeol doesn’t notice], kyungsoo follows suit and says: 

 

“to us.” 

**Author's Note:**

> yes it's kyungsoo saying that (!)
> 
> sorry i've literally been away for a whole year !!!! i am so so sorry !! thank you to everyone who's read my stuff and left such sweet comments <33 every time ive gotten a notif over the past year, i've been motivated to get down and write this and i finally (finally!!) did ;___; i dont know how much more often i can write but i promise this +1 part will happen one day. i've got exams and whatnot going on so it's probably the worst possible time for me to be writing but hey i have to keep being gay somehow
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this! if you wanna talk to me, my kpop twitter is @tagyeolit (which i, admittedly, don't use much -- feel free to dm me on there and i'll send you an easier way to talk to me!!!) 
> 
> love u <3


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